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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Montaigne's "On Some Verses..." essay, what opinion does he express about the sexes?
(a) Men do not possess emotional excess, which is the chief flaw of women.
(b) Men are made for war, and women are made for love.
(c) Men and women are essentially the same.
(d) Men are far superior to women in all intellectual areas.

2. How did Seneca die?
(a) He died in old age of natural causes.
(b) He died from an asthma attack.
(c) He took his own life.
(d) He choked on a chicken bone.

3. Which of the following subjects is NOT discussed in Montaigne's "On Some Verses..." essay?
(a) Death.
(b) Disease.
(c) Vice.
(d) Divorce.

4. Which is NOT one of the essays written by Ou-Yank Hsiu?
(a) "Essays in Idleness"
(b) "My Three Zithers"
(c) "Old Drunkard's Pavilion"
(d) "Farewell to Yang Shih"

5. What does "Pleasure Boat Studio" refer to?
(a) The nickname for a room in a governmental office.
(b) A studio in which Ou-Yank Hsiu loves to paint seascapes.
(c) A private place in the park by the pond.
(d) A ship that houses several prostitutes.

6. Which of the following is NOT a feature of Charles Lamb's writing?
(a) Mockery.
(b) Excessive moralizing.
(c) Exaggerated metaphors.
(d) Pen names.

7. In "Hateful Things," Sei Shonagon hates when a mosquito appears at what time?
(a) When one is having sex.
(b) When one is getting ready to take a bath.
(c) When one is falling asleep.
(d) When one is getting ready to eat.

8. Who raised Charles Lamb?
(a) His grandmother.
(b) His uncle.
(c) His older sister.
(d) The state.

9. When was Seneca the Younger born?
(a) 300 B.C.
(b) 1420 A.D.
(c) 525 A.D.
(d) 3 A.D.

10. To what character may many of Montaigne's writings may be considered similar to?
(a) Platonic.
(b) Optimistic.
(c) Stoic.
(d) Anti-Semitic.

11. What political party did Abraham Cowley support?
(a) Liberals.
(b) Whigs.
(c) Royalists.
(d) Tories.

12. Who wrote "A Chapter on Ears?"
(a) Plutarch.
(b) Abraham Cowley.
(c) Maria Edgeworth.
(d) Charles Lamb.

13. What kind of family background did Montaigne come from?
(a) His father was rich, but his mother came from a poor family.
(b) Montaigne came from a poor background.
(c) His mother was rich, but his father came from a poor family.
(d) Both his father and mother's families were well-off and prominent.

14. On what subject is Sei Shonagon particularly frank?
(a) The amount of her personal wealth.
(b) Her disease.
(c) Bedroom behavior.
(d) Her hatred for foreigners.

15. Why prompted Montaigne to retire from his career to pursue writing?
(a) His own bankruptcy.
(b) The birth of his first child.
(c) The death of his best friend.
(d) The death of his wife.

Short Answer Questions

1. At which university did Abraham Cowley study?

2. What is Cowley's message in his essay "Of Greatness"?

3. When was Maria Edgeworth born?

4. When was Ou-Yank Hsiu born?

5. What is the implicit message of "An Essay on the Noble Science of Self-Justification?"

(see the answer keys)

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